Patchy Ireland give Farrell gift of time
Ireland 19 Scotland 12 Att: 51,000
There was an amusing moment during Andy Farrell’s press conference following this nervy victory over Scotland when Ireland’s head coach managed to mix up the Burns brothers. Instead of Ulster’s Billy Burns – who has made the Ireland squad for the first time since moving to the province – Farrell claimed that his older brother, Freddie Burns, the former England fly-half, had been “going well in training”.
Johnny Sexton, sitting next to Farrell, looked amused at his head coach’s gaffe. “For Bath,” Sexton cut in. Cue much laughter. Farrell, smiling, admitted it was not the first time he had mixed them up, adding that Billy was “not happy about it”.
It was a nice moment, and it softened the mood at the end of a victory which owed at least as much to Scotland’s profligacy as Ireland’s stingy defence. Gregor Townsend’s team made 11 forays into Ireland’s 22 during the match, but the only time they made it over the whitewash Stuart Hogg dropped the ball while bending down to place it in the corner.
Given such an attacking platform, Adam Hastings’s four penalties felt like a desperately meagre return. Predictably, Scotland were made to pay for their lack of a cutting edge and for their indiscipline. The visitors coughed up 14 penalties in total, four of which Sexton converted to go with his early try.
It was a let-off for Ireland in the sort of display which would have landed Joe Schmidt in serious trouble not so long ago. But there is clearly a sense of goodwill around Farrell at the moment, a desire to give him a bit of time to show what he can do. As he pointed out afterwards he has only had five training sessions in charge.
Quite how long that lasts remains to be seen. If Ireland produce a similarly patchy display and lose at home to Wales this weekend, it will be interesting to see the reaction.
They will be without Garry Ringrose for that match. The Leinster centre left the field early in Saturday’s game, and it was reported in Ireland yesterday that he had suffered a broken finger on his left hand.
Robbie Henshaw is likely to step in at 13, as he did in this game. Prop Dave Kilcoyne and No 8 Caelan Doris, who was taken off just minutes into his Ireland debut, will also need to go through the return-toplay protocols for concussion. But for the moment, it is all smiles.
Farrell said he was well aware that performance levels needed to improve, but not unreasonably he preferred to focus on the positives; the “Irish grit” shown in defence, with man of the match CJ Stander to the fore; the line-out, with which he was particularly happy; the fast feet of Jordan Larmour, who produced a mixed bag of a performance, scything through Scotland defenders one minute then stepping into touch in his own 22 under minimal pressure the next.
Farrell said he wanted Larmour to be confident and would not be too harsh on his young full-back.
“I thought that was the right decision [to run the ball back]. It was on, he just didn’t know where the touchline was. He did some fantastic stuff and you want him to be in a place where he’s comfortable enough to back himself. The belief that Jordan’s got is his strength.
“He frightened me at times! But that’s what he does. He actually doesn’t know what he’s doing with his own feet, does he? I mean, they’re crazy, his feet.”
Farrell is clearly being given a bit of breathing room at the beginning of his reign. But he is going to have to make some hard decisions. The future of Conor Murray for instance. Ulster’s John Cooney made a useful 20-minute cameo here, adding fuel to the fire of those who felt he should have started.
“We’ll see,” Farrell said when asked whether he might switch it around. “There’s a few boys that are going to be battered anyway, so we’ll see what happens. Continuity is one thing but, at the heart of it, the only thing that’s right is what’s right for the team and the opposition we’re playing next week. So if we need to change we’ll do that.
“Conor did well, he played with a higher tempo at times, he was right in the thick of it when we were going pretty well in the opposition 22 in the first half and, in the second half, he was looking for holes. Some of his kicking was exceptional, one or two went astray. But, like everyone, there’s some things to work on. It was a little bit stop-start, but we’ll be better for that practice”